1. Technical Field
This invention relates to packaging flexible articles. In one aspect, this invention relates to packaging disposable absorbent articles, including diapers, underpants, guards-for-men garments, sanitary napkins, incontinence pads, undergarments, or briefs.
2. Background
Packaging users and their purchasing decisions are sensitive to product cost and their purchasing decisions reflect their sensitivities. Producers are sensitive to product and material costs and handling, shipping, and display costs. Producers of consumer products, such as absorbent articles, prefer to hold production and material costs to a minimum. Producers have trade off decisions to make to balance the packaging appeal to the customer with a lowest cost of packaging materials and production costs associated with each packaging design. Product and material costs, handling costs, shipping, and display not only affect packaging users and purchasing decisions, but also handling, shipping, and display costs space constrain further the preferred packaging and product.
During packaging, a variation or variations in the arrangement of flexible absorbent articles within the packaging provide a flexible outer casing which is not filled completely. A region or regions of the articles compress, such as elastic elements, including waist bands, standup cuffs, and elasticized side panels; mechanical fasteners; and absorbent cores in absorbent products. Compression damages the articles and diminishes end-use performance of the flexible disposable articles.
When flexible disposable articles including absorbent articles are packaged and compressed, the volume size differences or changes lead to xe2x80x9cwedge-likexe2x80x9d shaped packaging and to articles popping out of the outer casing at an inopportune time or in an undesired manner, e.g., two or three at a time. Special configurations of the articles within the outer casing distribute the mass or bulk of the absorbent articles. However, configurations reduce the speed of packaging and reduce the speed of production. The difference in caliper of the different parts of the absorbent articles, leads to unstable and easily deformable packages. The shipment, storage, and display of unstable packages cause a variety of problems and difficulties. The problems are more severe in compressed packaging.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention provide a package including an array of flexible compressed articles.
An array of compressed flexible articles has one or more unit packages maintained in a packaged configuration by a paper or plastic wrapping. The whole array is encircled in a flexible covering made from a film of a thermoplastic material. An alternative package unit uses a configuration of the flexible articles folded and packed in a xe2x80x9chead-to-tailxe2x80x9d configuration. Individual paper wrappers maintain the array. Consumers tear open the outer plastic flexible covering and remove the inner paper or plastic wrappers placed across the width of the products.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention make efficient use of an available packaging volume, redistributing an orientation of flexible articles before packaging.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention compress the packaging to a relatively small volume without causing damage or significant reduction in the performance of the articles, especially absorbent articles.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention enhance the free space inside an outer casing and shipping unit for corrugated cases and preferred pallet usage.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention provide stable and uniform shape toward rectangular, square, or designated design for a preferred fit when the package is shipped, stored, displayed, and further provide for a preferred appearance.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention provide preferred consumer access to the absorbent articles contained within the flexible outer casing when the outer casing is opened.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention provide preferred removal of a single absorbent article for use and when withdrawn from the package.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention eliminate inner shapes, wrappers, or compression as a necessary means for maintaining a certain configuration of the articles.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention reduce material and shipping costs and allow more absorbent articles in smaller packages.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention provide a process for placing the articles in the package.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention distribute compression forces uniformly across the package, eliminating distinct high and low compression areas within the package.
The flexible disposable article and method of the present invention further provide a simple and reliable method for the compressed packaging of an array of flexible articles while maintaining and increasing the speed and efficiencies of production.
These and other features and objects of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description and in conjunction with the figures of the drawings which follow.
The packaging article and method of the present invention include a flexible outer casing and absorbent articles arranged within the outer casing and placed in an array such that at least a portion of article front faces are in a contacting relationship. The present invention provides a package, article, and method including an array of flexible articles housed in a flexible outer casing. An array of absorbent articles has two regions, viz; a first region and a second region. Each article has an article top face, a bottom face, a front face, a back face, and a pair of side faces distributed over the first and second region of the array of articles. The top, front, back, and side faces of the article are referred to as the upper section, and the bottom, front, back, and side faces of the article are referred to as the lower section. The upper and lower sections have mutually different calipers, wherein caliper means thickness or bulk.
Conventional packaging processes align the absorbent articles in an array wherein the back face of a first article is in a contacting relationship with the front face of an adjacent article, and the bottom face of the first article is adjacent the bottom face of the adjacent article. According to the configuration of articles within the array of present invention, at least a portion or a predetermined number of articles within the array are in a front face to front face contacting relationship with adjacent articles, or, alternatively, in a back face to back face contacting relationship. At least a portion or a predetermined number of the articles within the array are in a top face to bottom face relationship with adjacent articles. The articles in a front face to front face contacting relationship with adjacent articles, or, alternatively, in a back face to back face contacting relationship are the articles in the top face to bottom face relationship with adjacent articles.
The differences in the sizes or the compression forces of the first and second regions when the upper and lower sections are distributed throughout the array of articles are at least 10% smaller than the differences in the sizes of the articles (or the compression forces for compression of the articles when compressed packaging is being utilized) of the largest region when all the upper sections of the articles are located in the same region of the array of the articles. When a compression force is applied to the articles, the articles are compressed to between about 10% to about 75% of their uncompressed volume.
By redistributing the orientation or configuration of the articles within the array before packaging, the packaging of the array of the articles becomes uniform. In operations where compressed packaging is utilized, the array of articles is reoriented before compression force is applied. While not necessary to reorient the articles within the array before compression force is applied to the array, the array of articles is more stable for processing when the array is reoriented prior to the compression. The differences in the sizes of the upper and lower sections of the articles in the reoriented array is reduced to obtain an equal distribution of the articles or volume of the first and second regions.
Reorientation provides for a preferred use of volume or space within the outer casing. Reorientation prevents over-compression of various parts of the articles where compressed packaging is utilized. Reorientation reduces or prevents damage to the absorbent articles.
It has been found that a tendency for the articles to pop out of the outer casing during handling is reduced by the packaging article and method of the present invention.
Using the reoriented configuration in the packaging of the present invention for the array of articles, more articles are included in a single array before the array becomes unstable. In this way, the packaging process is simplified, and the speed of the production of the articles is maintained or increased while providing more a stable product package having the preferred advantages of the flexible disposable article and method of the present invention.
It has been found that preferred load bearing properties and shape stability of the package is provided by the flexible disposable article and method of the present invention. The packages of an reoriented array of absorbent articles are stacked in a stable manner for shipping, handling, and display.
It has been found that a package according to the present invention can be compressed by a compression at least 10% higher in the direction of compression in comparison to a package having an equal number of articles wherein all the upper sections are located in the same region of the array of the articles.
In one embodiment of the packaging in accordance to the present invention, the articles are distributed within the array such that the sizes are substantially equal or the compression forces are substantially equal when compressed packaging is utilized for the first and second regions of the array of the articles.
In this way, the packaging apparatus of the present invention accommodates a variety of bag sizes. In the case when compressed packaging is utilized, the compression apparatus pivoting preventive support for the compression plates accommodates different reduced compressibilities of the array of articles.
Alternatively, the array of the absorbent articles is orientated such that after compression the expansion forces of the first region of the array are substantially equal to the expansion force of the second region to counter deformation of the package on removal of the compression forces.
Arrays of articles are formed by stacking bi-folded absorbent articles, such as diapers, together, having either non-uniform caliper or low and high density regions. A bi-folded diaper is folded once on itself at its crotch region. Such bi-folded diapers have a rounded upper section having high compression resistance which corresponds to the crotch region of the unfolded diaper, and a lower section with low compression resistance, which corresponds to the waist regions of the unfolded diaper. The preferred maximum packaging of the present invention is achieved when the orientation of rounded upper sections is alternated within the array of the absorbent articles. The orientation of the upper sections is alternated for groups of two or more articles, and the number of rounded upper sections in the first and second regions of the array of compressed diapers need not necessarily be equal. Articles, such as absorbent articles, are tri-folded, bi-tri-folded, or folded by any of a variety of folds.
By the term xe2x80x9ccompressibilityxe2x80x9d is meant a reduction in volume when a predetermined force is applied to an article or to an array of articles, particularly absorbent articles. Reduction in volume is between 20% and 70% of the uncompressed volume for the packaging article and method of the present invention.